Bomb scare at UK airport, arrest made

A man has been arrested at Manchester Airport on suspicion of making a hoax bomb threat on board a commercial airliner, according to local police.

The arrest comes after a Qatar Airways plane had to be escorted to the airport by fighter jets from the Royal Air Force. The runway at the airport - located in the north of England - was briefly closed whilst the jetliner landed, before being reopened.

Greater Manchester Police tweeted: "A man who was onboard the plane at @manairport has been arrested on suspicion of making a hoax bomb threat."

Qatar Airways said the crew of the escorted plane - an Airbus A330 traveling from Doha to Manchester, according to tracking data from FlightAware.com - had received a threat about a possible device on board.

The plane was escorted into the airport and surrounded by armed police. Josh Hartley, a passenger on the plane, tweeted updates and said the ordeal had left him "shaken."

The arrested man was taken off the plane in handcuffs, while other passengers waited in their seats, according to media reports.

Other jetliners in the vicinity were initially diverted to nearby Leeds airport before normal service was resumed. A plane reportedly carrying the U.K. soccer team Manchester United - on its way back from Miami - had to briefly divert away from the airport due to the incident before being allowed to land.